Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-17

-houssnd men should claim the sunshine
and cir OF q boulevard or little park, the
government would tell them that that
sunshine vas not free; it has been taken
possession of by the state or the nation
or CITY. If thus sunbeams and
AIR AND WATER
may be possessed and held, so may land,
SO long as there remain any land and air
and sunshine not held by any one.
Furthermore, were sill taxes exacted
from land then all that grows upon land
would come to the poor with 8 higher
price, and the carpenter who now buys &
barrel of -four for 81 because money helps
pay the tax, wonld have to give SO for
his -four because 6ll the taxes must come
from the land. The tenants of the soil in
America would rapidly become like the
land tenants of Ireland, the victims of
heavy taxation, for all of these orators
have failed to show how o nation or
state would be kinder landlord than the
Duke of DeVonshire or Westminster or
Argyle. The history of land tenantrY in
Ireland has not been such as TO warrant
politics which shall make tenantry uni
versal, and which shall call these tenants
an anti-poverty society. Thus far land
not owned stands deeply related to AFFECT
poverty.
What, now, has this to dc withlthe figures
of thought and speech? Much, in a most
important sense. There is great cloud
RESTING UPON HUMAN LIFE
All humane hearts are. saddeDed by the
reflection that so many are suffering from
poverty while the earth is so abundantiY
eble to grant plenty of food, clothing and
shelter TO all. The sympathy from this
sorrow is not limited to the anarchists
nor to the followers of Mr.. George. II
has for many years made heavy and also
generous the human heart. This CON-
passion toiled for the freedom of our
slaves before Henry George was born; it
sent food and money to Ireland before
Father McGlynn had been ordained as 8
priest; il gave millions upon millions OF
money for homes and schools before
these audiences waved their handkeT-
chiefs in the Academy of Music. We
have all long known of and long Wept
over the dreadful Inequalities of human
condition. Why, then, dc we not all
combine with the apostles of the new
crusade? Because they are following an
image, q figure, and cannot show US that
it is fact. The Anti-Poverty Society has
erected picture OF poor man becoming
rich and Of a rich nabob becoming only g
common well-to- do-CItizeH, and under
this picture it writes the phrase, Free
Land.
NO OWNERSHIP IN LAND,
But we discover that the audiences ap-
plaud unanimously when the picture
rises Of the poor man made rich; and not
over the lucid relations of free land 10
the transformation scene. You may read
all these great oratious, and you will per-
ceive that the sensation is deepest when
the sorrow and wrong are described and
not wh"r the cure is suggested.
linus the poor man made rich becomes
picture full Of pathos and of motives;
he is an emblem like the water baptism;
he stands for reform as did Pilgrim in
the book OF John BunyGn: he stands for
business and kindness as did Cinderella
in the beautiful old story, but this en-
blem does lot carry along within itself
the true causes of its TRANSPORTATION.
The picture is very pathetic, but it IS noJ
clear how the non ownership of land is to
be the power Who is 10 remove the bur
den from Pilgrims back, how that idea is
20 be the just prince who is 10
MARRY TIE CINDERELLA
and take her from the ashes and from the
sore bondage. We ought in this age to
be able TO distinguish between the elo-
quence which paints SORROW or wrong
and the eloqUenCe which explains the
cure.
Henry George and his society have done
nothing except set up before US one more
figure of virtue, one new emblem of
desirable goods poor man made rich.
They have thus awakened new sym
psthy, but have added nothing to the
public information. They do well in call
ing their movement q New Crusade"
for as the first crusaders moved out
Wardly, having true inward love of
Christ, but having as an external emblem
only long ruinOus march to the empty
tomb in which their own doctrine of a
had taught there could he
nothing but handful OF dust; so these
new knights, having in heart 8 profound
love OF the poor man, seem to be march
ing long Journey toward some figure of
their blessing, but what is almost GER
tainly
ONLY AN EMPTY sEPULCRRE.
Thousands of deceived knights will Gle
on their way toward their goal, the other
thousand will die broken hearted in the
long return.
As the years pass, those will extrscs
the most from life who barter away en-
olems and take in payment for them
transparent facts. He would be poor,
weak Christian who should not prefer
single baptism of Gods spirit TO a
hundred baptisms of water, and one hour
with Jesus Christ to life time of dealing
with the emblems of bread aud wine in
4 dim sacrament. So the citizens of this
earth must not suffer the theories of an
Ell Dorado, of an unOwned and well taxed
land to turn them away from the sun
clear light which beams forth from educa-
ton, temperance, industry snd economy
These are pure truths from which the
has wholly withdrawn. The
Society sees = poor man
taken out of sll his ills by
means of rented lands But
his "tskiDg outn is al wrapped up in
wealth of fgurative language. This poor
man may be trying to
EMBRACE 4 PHANTOM,
but should ne accept Of the ownership of
land in the west he would find his arms
holding 8 blessed fact. Henry Georges
poor woman Canrot assume That she is &
and that some sntt-poverty
prince is hunting for the owner of her
little slipper. She must break away
rom the network Of such dreams, and
quitting ali slavery 10 d0miueeriug sisters